Safe Place

Save haven offered to pets of homeless families The Third Street Alliance recently accepted a $2,500 donation from PetSmart to provide safe care for pets of families who receive shelter and services at its downtown Easton shelter. Since pets cannot be housed safely in the shelter, Peaceable Kingdom provides boarding for the pets at its animal shelter in Allentown. The funds will be used to offset the costs of boarding and any veterinary services needed. The Shelter at Third Street Alliance for Women and Children provides housing to homeless families for up to 18 months while the family members settle into a self-sufficient lifestyle.

Save haven offered to pets of homeless families The Third Street Alliance recently accepted a $2,500 donation from PetSmart to provide safe care for pets of families who receive shelter and services at its downtown Easton shelter. Since pets cannot be housed safely in the shelter, Peaceable Kingdom provides boarding for the pets at its animal shelter in Allentown. The funds will be used to offset the costs of boarding and any veterinary services needed. The Shelter at Third Street Alliance for Women and Children provides housing to homeless families for up to 18 months while the family members settle into a self-sufficient lifestyle.

People can get bored with no place to play. We need parks to ride on the swings, go down the slide and ride bikes, and meet at the swimming pool. Kids are safe on the playground. Kids won't get hit by a car. There are gates and fences to keep kids safe. There are basketball courts with lights. Summer vacation is a long vacation. Kids need a place to exercise, not spend too much time eating and watching TV. Fresh air is good for you. Joshua Bonilla

There is a noticeable trend regarding energy saving. People everywhere, especially in the summertime, waste energy by leaving their lights on, leaving their air conditioners on and not turning off their TVs. The list goes on. People are well aware of the price that comes with wasting energy, but some simply do not care. However, some fail to account for the damage that they are putting on the environment. One question I would like to challenge everybody to ask themselves the next time they find themselves wasting energy is: What would happen to the world if everybody were to do this?

To the Editor: I am a volunteer for The Caring Place, non-profit youth development center in Allentown. I've been here for about five years. You would not believe the effects of the Sept. 11 tragedy on our youth. The Caring Place is a safe place for our inner city children to go after school. We always make sure our children have a nutritional snack and juice after school. Lately, the volunteers have been bringing snacks from home and making juice. The donations are very low right now. Our children are suffering silently.

I went to take my children sledding in the same spot that my husband had sledded when he was younger, only to find "no trespassing" and "no sledding" signs. Both of my children said that really stinks. A great place to sled has been taken away. I understand that Shepherd Hills golf course is private property, but were the children really destroying the property? The children were simply having fun. Please reconsider allowing the children to have a safe place to sled. Wanda Farley Lower Macungie Township

Carolyn Tomlinson's stomach would go in knots every time the phone rang. It was an ominous sound that usually meant that her daughter, Shannon, was unconscious and on her way to the hospital aboard an ambulance. The calls came more than once during some weeks. "My husband and I lived on edge," Carolyn said. "The terror was always there. " Shannon, a sophomore studying media and communications at Muhlenberg College, suffers from a rare, autonomic disorder known as neurocardiogenic syncope that causes her to faint without warning.

Like many educators, Linda Waddell knew all about the studies that showed teens get into the most trouble between 3 and 6 p.m. But Waddell, an instructional support teacher at Salisbury Middle School, decided to do something about it. She launched an after-school program where students can do their homework, swim, bake and discuss teen-related issues. So far, it's proven successful. The program, which recently ended for the school year, was offered every Thursday since October. About 45 students showed up weekly, many of them at-risk kids.

I think it is a big mistake to build a hockey arena in downtown Allentown. It is not going to boost the economy, and developers will be lucky if they can fill the seats. Sad to say but, Allentown, the former All-America City, is no longer a safe place to live or a safe place to visit. The arena is all about the politics. Sandy Vona Macungie

When it's cold enough that ice makes it dangerous to ride a bicycle on the streets, one safe place for Michael Lassiter, 6, of Easton to ride is the tennis courts around Easton Middle School. In addition to giving him a flat, even surface surrounded by a fence, the courts are in plain view of a row of houses across the street, meaning most everyone who cares to can get a glimpse of Michael.

With the hockey arena nearing completion, a big-name act booked for an opening-night concert and the gradual addition of downtown tenants such as National Penn Bancshares, doubts about center city Allentown's rebirth are beginning to fade. If there's one unanswered question, it's this: Will enough suburbanites who have stayed away feel safe enough venturing into the heart of the Lehigh Valley's largest city to help sustain it? City Center Lehigh Valley, the private developer behind much of the rebirth, hopes a high-tech security system and 24-hour monitoring will go a long way toward alleviating fears, especially on weekends and at night, when city restaurants and bars will be looking for customers.

Q: I am worried about my 4-year-old granddaughter. I take care of her for my single daughter and sometimes she cries when I take her home. A couple times she has had her shoes put on the wrong feet. My daughter has had both mental health and addiction issues and I fear that my granddaughter may not be safe. What can I do? A: It sounds like your daughter may need some professional intervention, the Help for Families panel says. "Call child protective services to look at the situation," says panelist Bill Vogler.

By Nicole Radzievich" and Matt Assad, Of The Morning Call | December 8, 2012

Bethlehem - with its Nativity scenes, Advent candles and perpetually illuminated star - owns the enviable title of Christmas City. But it looked a little more like Dodge City last weekend when a deadly shootout erupted blocks from the season's most popular tourist spots. A 23-year-old woman was killed and five men were wounded when bullets flew in the wee hours of Dec. 2 in the 200 block of E. Third Street, not far from the SteelStacks entertainment complex, where Christkindlmarkt expects to draw 60,000 tourists this season, and the Sands casino that attracts more than 7.5 million people a year.

The Northampton Area Public Library received a grant from the Best Buy Children's Foundation to support programs that will help youth to excel in school, engage in their communities and develop life and leadership skills. The $4000 grant, which is from the Community Grants program, will be used to purchase laptop and tablet computers and equipment to be used in the library's Teen's Cyber Space project. This is an after-school program which will provide area teens with a safe place to study, socialize and learn.

Q: My 28-year-old daughter has two children, ages 5 and 7. She is living with a man who I believe is hitting her. I have seen bruises on her face, but she makes excuses. I am very concerned about my grandchildren being exposed to this man's violence. What can I do? A: It is hard to get help for someone if they don't want help, the Help for Families panel says. You probably feel helpless seeing your daughter in this situation. "It is difficult to have a conversation with a loved one in that situation," says panelist Lorna Locascio-Clause.

Do you believe in Christmas in April? A recent event made me a believer. I recently brought two drawings to the Christmas Tree Shops in Airport Center with the idea that I could match these pictures with frames sold there. Although I found exactly what I wanted, I left the drawings behind at the checkout counter. They were drawn 70 years ago. The artist was my mother who died in September 2011. A Christmas angel at the store recognized that they were not just ordinary works of art and put them in a safe place.

Q: I am worried about my 4-year-old granddaughter. I take care of her for my single daughter and sometimes she cries when I take her home. A couple times she has had her shoes put on the wrong feet. My daughter has had both mental health and addiction issues and I fear that my granddaughter may not be safe. What can I do? A: It sounds like your daughter may need some professional intervention, the Help for Families panel says. "Call child protective services to look at the situation," says panelist Bill Vogler.

Q: My 28-year-old daughter has two children, ages 5 and 7. She is living with a man who I believe is hitting her. I have seen bruises on her face, but she makes excuses. I am very concerned about my grandchildren being exposed to this man's violence. What can I do? A: It is hard to get help for someone if they don't want help, the Help for Families panel says. You probably feel helpless seeing your daughter in this situation. "It is difficult to have a conversation with a loved one in that situation," says panelist Lorna Locascio-Clause.

Having moved to Lehigh Township 23 years ago from northern New Jersey, I never forget to stop and give thanks for this visually beautiful place where I live. The rolling hills of northeastern Pennsylvania are gorgeous. I have wonderful neighbors who genuinely care about one another, and Lehigh Township is a very safe place to live. We all see the evidence of our national economic peril in our everyday lives, but nothing thus far has caught my attention quite so dramatically as what I have learned about our police department.

I think the article about the Saucon Valley bus stop and the sex offender was a great wakeup call to all parents who send their children off to a bus stop, a sports field or a local park or playground. As a parent and now for me as a grandparent, it is my responsibility to keep my child/grandchild safe. Something often not thought of, but we have great online resources that can help identify convicted sex offenders. Thanks to Megan's Law you can check your neighborhood or area that your child may play sports, etc. I don't know what the solution is for the folks in Saucon Valley, but I know I would be accompanying my child to the bus stop and staying with them until the bus arrives.